Update on the Dicks

I'm pretty sure I emailed all of you about my other blog (in case I didn't, it is www.thedickfam.blogspot.com). I update that fairly regularly, but I still want to be a part of the Upper blog too. So, here is our little update. We are doing just dandy. We had a fun trip to Duck Creek, UT over Memorial Day with Sean's family (riding quads and hanging out in the beautiful mountains). I spent 5 days with the Young Women from our ward for Girls Camp in June. We had a good time with very little drama (which is a serious accomplishment when you get a group of teenage girls together camping in tents for a week). I even did a little repelling and hiking while I was there. The kids spent that week at my parents house. I took a little trip down to CA for Caleb's graduation and Kyra's 8th grade promotion, which is when I also dropped the kids off. They had a fun time, of course. We had plans to go to a family reunion over the 4th of July, but Sean just couldn't take 4 full days off. So, we spent the holiday here in Kingman (which had a decent firework show for a small little place) and made homemade ice cream. Then we drove to Flagstaff the next day and spent the night there (just to get away from the heat and enjoy a little vacation of some sort). We went to the Grand Canyon caverns, saw Wall-E, swam, went to a petting deer farm outside of Williams and picked up a new addition to our family. While we were at the deer farm one of the workers told us about some puppies that someone was giving away up the road. Sean wanted to go and check them out.... and we ended up bringing one home. He is a cute little guy (who will one day not be very little at all). The kids LOVE him, and he is pretty fond of them too. You should see how excited he gets each morning when they head out to the porch first thing. Next week we are heading to Colorado for a different family reunion. We will stop in Utah to see Sean's sister's new baby. Good times. Other than our small travels, we have just been hanging out at home and trying to stay cool. We loved the monsoon storms that came through last week, and actually Kingman is not quite as hot as many other AZ places.
I am feeling pretty good - definitely getting bigger and feeling this baby moving all of the time. This is the first time I have been big and pregnant through the hot part of the summer, and I think the heat wears me out a little more, but I am still good. Sean is busy with work - he is still working LOTS of hours, but his job has gotten a little better for him during the past couple of months (the stress was crazy back in the Spring). Caelan has a little reading preschool class that she goes to twice a week during the summer - she is getting good at reading simple words and writing words on her own. I can't believe she starts Kindergarten in less than a month. We're going to get adjusted to that change just in time to have a new baby and have something else to adjust to. I think it will be a big adjustment for Ben - he and Caelan are great friends who play together all the time. I guess he and Megan will start doing more and more things together. Megan is a busy little thing. She is always trying to keep up with her big brother and sister. She loves to run around and play with baby dolls and be a part of whatever anyone else is doing. Oh, what fun. Well, I love you all. I hope things are going well for you. I'd love to hear an actual update on the goings on of your lives. Can't wait for next year when we will all be together for an Upper Reunion.

Not so "Good" Game!

I went to Vegas at the beginning of May with the twins and David for Zog's wedding. Taylor served in the Czech Republic with Zog's new wife, Christine Taylor. Tanner and David came along for company. Anyhow, Nich's post reminded me of a little surprise we found walking along the strip. (You must enlarge pic for the full effect)


BTW...I promise I have a real update coming very soon. Hopefully this weekend. I was just waiting to get the pics back from our vacation. I know...you can't wait! The wait will be worth it. :) (Or so we're always told)

Happy Un-Birthday!!

So I always realize a couple days after your birthdays, that I totally missed it. Then I make a mental note to call, or email when I get a chance, but then by the end of the day the mental note has fallen out of my ear somewhere. Then the next day when I remember, I'm at work and can't do it until I get off. So I make another mental note, and the vicious cycle continues... So although it may appear like I've forgotten, I really think about you all the time, and I hope you all have fabulous birthdays even if I don't ever get around to calling! Here's to the Uppers getting old!

Girls, this one's for you!

GOOD GAME!!

McKell Update

Life is moving along at an excelerated pace right now. McKenna turned 3 last friday! Can you believe it?!? She was so excited to be getting older because then it meant she would be bigger. She had a great birthday. We had my parents and sister over for dinner. . macoroni and cheese, hot dogs, chips, cottage cheese and broccoli. McKenna got to choose some of it, luckily she loves broccoli. Her first request though was cake and ice cream. She got a keyboard fully equipped with a microphone from us, and a kitchen from grandparents and us. She is really enjoying her presents. Oh yeah. . . and TONS of balloons!

Kate is going in for sugery tomorrow to fix her cleft palate. I got pretty nervous about it last week, but am feeling a little more calm at this point (is there such thing as a nervous calm?). Tyler will be giving her a blessing tomorrow, thank goodness for priesthood! I will be staying the night in the hospital with Kate. She will have to wear arm braces for 1-2 weeks afterwards to keep her from putting her hands or anything else in her mouth. They will keep her from bending her arms. Kate started walking on McKenna's birthday. We're pretty suprised, she was never interested in using walkers.

I've been working on our food storage and emergency preparedness. I used most of our tax return already for supplies. I've felt a great urge to get this together, I'm so grateful for the spirit and inspiration! We are going to be taking a family vacation in June, it was my birthday present this year! We are going to central Oregon to stay at a vacation home. It will be so great to be together as a family without worrying about callings and work! :)

Love Always,

Jamie

Dick Update

Hi girls,
It's been several months since we have heard from anyone, so I thought I would start the trend. Well, the biggest change in our life is our move into our new home (our very own). YEAH! We closed on Feb. 15th (but we had our rental for another two months so we figured we would spend that time doing all sorts of projects before we are actually living there). I painted and painted and painted. We changed lights and scraped all the popcorn off all the ceilings and then I re-textured the ceilings and painted them (AHH - what a project). We laid wood floor in our entry, dining and kitchen. We replaced some appliances in the kitchen and removed the wallpaper in there. We replaced all the bath hardware (towel racks, etc) in both bathrooms. It definitely looks like a more updated house, and we love it. There are a still things we need to finish up, but it is very liveable. Now we are trying to make some headway on the yard. We have lots of trees and bushes (which are mature enough that they just grow and flourish on their own), but we need to revive our grass. I have my spot dug and prepared to plant a garden - I just need to actually get the plants and seeds in the ground (hopefully this week). It's fun! Other than that life is pretty regular. Caelan has preschool twice a week and dance once a week (she loves them both). There are a couple of little camps (reading, art and dance camps) that I have found out about for the summer for her - I am trying to decide which to have her do. Then she starts Kindergarten in the Fall (HOLY MOLY). I found out the other day that here in Kingman they only do full day Kindergarten, so I am trying to get myself ready to send away my little girl away each day for 6 and a half hours. Ben just turned 3 last week. We are finally making some good headway on the potty training. Megan only has 3 more Sundays before she can start going to Nursery - YEAH! She is a busy little girl - she loves to try and keep up with Caelan and Ben, and they are mostly happy to have her join them. Sean was crazy busy with work at the beginning of the year - a lot of stress, but he has hired some more workers since then which has taken some strain off of him (it's much better now). I stay busy with the kids and working with the Young Women. The presidency just got changed around, but I was recalled as the first counselor again, so no change for me. I love it! I try to get to the gym a few of times a week, and we head over to the library for Story Time every Wed. Oh, and one more piece of news - we are expecting our 4th little one in September. I am about 17 weeks along. I have been feeling great, although I am currently in the awkward stage of feeling too fat for my regular clothes, but not big enough to wear maternity clothes. Well, life is good. I hope things are well with all of you. I was talking to Sean last night about the upcoming Crusader reunion, and it was making me long for a reunion with all of the Uppers. My summer is getting crazier by the week, but we should start thinking about planning something for the sometime next year. Well, I love you all tons.

Tera

Happy New Year

Hi Girls,

Can you believe we are into another new year.... again? We had a great Christmas in Casa Grande with Sean's family. We got to be there for an entire week, which was heavenly. I actually got to see my husband a little bit. He has been so busy at work the past couple of months. He usually leaves by 6 AM, and it is a real treat if he is home before 6 PM. With the slow market they are trying to hire as few people as possible, which leaves him with lots to do. It will get better eventually, but for now he is definitely putting in his hours. We like it here in Kingman quite a bit. Our ward is great. There are lots of young families with kids, which is fun. Sean got called to be the Priest Quorum advisor, and I am the MiaMaid advisor. We love it, but sometimes it gets a little tricky on Sundays when we both teach during the same hour (so far we have had willing volunteers to help watch Megan while we teach). I just love working with the youth.
I definitely keep busy with the three little ones. Caelan has preschool twice a week for 3 hours. She loves it. She is becoming quite the speller, and she has always had a knack for math skills. She also goes to a dance class once a week. A couple of YW from our ward teach several dance classes to young girls. She had a Christmas concert - what a riot! You know how our parents used to get so excited about watching us perform or receiving homemade noodle necklace gifts? As I got a little older, I remember thinking that parents sure put on a good show pretending to love those things, but now that I am in that position it is very clear how genuine that excitement and love is. As I was watching her do her simple dance moves, I was just beaming inside, and her homemade calendar was maybe my favorite Christmas present. I love it! Ben is Caelan's little playmate. Megan is almost old enough to join in on the fun, but for now she often seems to "mess" up their playing. I keep attempting to potty train Ben. I heard that boys were harder than girls, but Man, I wasn't ready for this. He is so stubborn, which is weird because he doesn't have a stubborn personality usually. One day we will actually make some progress. Megan is walking all over the place and exploring anything she can (cupboards, drawers, dirt, etc). She is a real social bug - she loves any and all attention, which makes walking through the stores pretty fun (she attracts smiles from everyone).Life is good. I have been especially busy with getting all the things in order to buy our house. Sean has been working so much that it has been totally ME - from the researching and looking at different homes to calling about info to getting a lender in place and then switching lenders and making the offers, etc, etc. What a learning experience, but it has actually been pretty fun. Our closing date is February 15th. We have a month and a half with our rental and our new house, so we are going to do a couple projects (paint, replace the carpet for hard floor in the dining room), and then move in slowly. The house was lived in by a widow woman for 16 years or so, so it is in great condition (some features are a little dated, but still in good condition). It sits on .86 acres with trees and landscaping and grass. Lots of room for kids to run wild.
Well, that's the news here. I miss you girls. It's fun to hear all the things going on in your life. We should make 2008 a reunion year for the Uppers. I can host it if you want, or we can go somewhere fun, but we should definitely plan something. It's been too long. Well, I love you all.
Tera